Issue Shifting perceptions of traditional values and declining institutional trust

Summary

Traditional values concerning work, family, gender and political and social institutions are dissolving rapidly as new norms stressing diversity, openness and inclusion spread. The survey sees value conflict and the personalisation of values advancing at the same time. Growing awareness of structural inequality and abuses of power is prompting a rethink of traditional values and weakening trust in the political and social systems built on them, especially among women and younger generations. Movements such as MeToo, the spread of feminism and democratic crises in Latin America, combined with global human-rights discourse, have raised calls for reform and for direct citizen participation. Open attitudes toward non-traditional gender roles, sexual orientation, multiracial families, mental illness, assisted dying and remaining unmarried are expanding worldwide, while confidence in representative democracy and the judiciary erodes.